Recreational pools such as swimming pools, spas and hot tubs provide a great deal of pleasure and comfort. The extent of comfort depends on the quality of the water. In order to assure comfort and safety to users of these pools, it is important that the water be treated properly so that it is aesthetically pleasing in terms of taste, color, turbidity and odor. Proper treatment also is important so that the water has proper pH, and is environmentally safe as well as effectively free of pathogens and chemicals which may cause illness.
Conventional methods of treatment of water in recreational pools utilize water treatment chemicals such as oxidizers, sanitizers, algicides and pH buffers. Typically, the chemicals are measured and manually added to the water as part of an overall water maintenance program. In such a program, various water quality parameters are measured at regular intervals. When a parameter is not acceptable, an appropriate amount of water treatment chemical is measured and manually added to the water. In so doing, the user is undesirably exposed to the concentrated chemical.
Mixtures of chemicals also have been added to recreational pool water. Addition of mixtures of chemicals to promote water clarity is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,802. This patent discloses a mixture that includes polyhexamethylene biguanide sanitizer, persulfate salt oxidizers and chelating agents. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,514,287 and 5,478,482 disclose a composition and a method for controlling microbial growth in recirculating water systems. The composition includes a soluble boron contributor, a halogen/boron sanitizer/algicide, and an oxidizing clarifier which includes a chlorine compound, a non-halogen oxidizer, and a boron source.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,846,979 discloses an algicide composition for treating swimming pools and spas. The algicide composition includes an alkali metal, alkaline earth metal or ammonium bromide and an oxidizer.
A popular sanitizer for water treatment is based on the polymeric biguanide described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,676. Use of polymeric guanides such as BAQUACIL® Sanitizer and Algistat sold by Avecia Inc. is popular because they do not cause eye irritation that is common with use of chlorine.
Water treated with BAQUACIL® Sanitizer and Algistat also can be treated with a separate algicide to combat algae. Oxidizers such as those which include hydrogen peroxide as the active component also may be added to the treated water to oxidize organic compounds in the water to promote clarity. An example of such an oxidizer is BAQUACIL® Shock and Oxidizer (from Avecia Inc.). BAQUACIL® Shock and Oxidizer is an aqueous solution that includes 27.5% hydrogen peroxide.
Consumers typically treat water found in pools, spas and hot tubs with chemicals such as sanitizers, oxidizers and algicides. Due to complexities such as the differing times specified for dosing various water treatment chemicals, difficulties in accurately measuring dosages, exposure to chemicals as well as cost of chemicals, consumers tend to avoid treating the water until problems such as haze and algae build-up occur.
A need therefore exists for a method that avoids these complexities and enables ready treatment of water such as that found in recreational pools.